Tewantin torture case: Social media outrage spills on to Sunshine Coast street

Outrage over social media footage of a teen girl’s alleged torture has exploded on the streets, with vigilante attacks, death threats and families forced into hiding.

A family has been left homeless and forced into hiding after its house was burnt down following outrage caused by a disturbing video of a teenager allegedly being tortured with social media the driving force behind the uprising.

Millions of people have now watched the shocking video of a 13-year-old Tewantin girl allegedly held against her will and tortured by three teenagers earlier this month, but police say the arson of the house where it happened had gone too far and experts likened it to a “witch hunt”.

Footage of the alleged torture. Picture: Instagram.

The girl was alleged assaulted over five hours.

The blaze on Wednesday morning comes just weeks after three girls were arrested and charged when the video and photos of their alleged victim, bloody and bruised, went viral.

It piqued national and international media interest and racked up millions of views on social media, especially TikTok and Instagram, driving an outraged online community to take things into their own hands.

The private addresses, phone numbers and personal details of all three girls, and their parents, were released to the angry public and shared millions of times.

A father-of-three revealed he was subjected to “death threats” after social media users mistakenly believed he was the father of one of the accused teens.

“I was in disbelief,” he said.

“I had people from London, UK and America messaging me death threats … my wife found a video which shared a scary detail that someone had tried to light someone’s house on fire and she panicked thinking what if we’re next.

“I have three young children … we’re innocent in this.”

Terrified neighbours have spoken out after the Sunshine Coast home where a teen girl was allegedly tortured was destroyed in a suspicious blaze. Picture: Patrick Woods.

Videos with the hashtag “justice for (name omitted)” had gained more than 400 million views on TikTok, and videos using one of the alleged offenders names had gained more than 200 million views.

The online hate sent the accused and their families into hiding as the anger heightened and retaliation started.

In the days leading up to the fire, the house was the target of vandalism and in a series of social media videos, people have recorded themselves breaking into home, kicking holes in walls and spray painting slurs on the walls.

The Tewantin home destroyed by fire in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The videos showed the house completely trashed, including flipped furniture, shattered windows, ransacked rooms and the words “whore” and “c – t” graffitied on the walls in black paint.

Visiting and trespassing inside the house, which is owned by the Department of Housing, has become a trend for people on social media, with some videos getting thousands of views, shares and likes online.

QUT professor Dr Jason Sternberg likened the vigilante behaviour to a “witch hunt”.

Dr Sternberg said social media is “designed” to “subvert” the justice system, with vigilante behaviour “driven by social affiliation”

“The emotions in this issue are universal – it’s like pouring petrol on an already dangerous fire,” he said.

“Social media is really good for stirring up vigilante actions as the platforms encourage emotive posting.”

Police investigate the suspicious blaze. Picture: Patrick Woods.

The house was boarded up after repeated attacks, but on Tuesday the online hate moved from the virtual world to the physical world and the property was set on fire.

Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Mansfield said police were still investigating how it started, but confirmed it was being treated as a “suspicious arson”.

“(It’s) slightly surprising that this type of offence has occurred to that extent,” Detective Mansfield said.

“It’s an unfortunate incident that occurred and we are treating it as a very serious matter.”

Just 24 hours before the fire, a racially motivated flyer inciting radical behaviour against the accused was circulated around Tewantin.

Sunshine Coast District Inspector Superintendent Craig Hawkins slammed the people behind the flyer, labelling them as “gutless”.

“The cultural heritage of the people who did occupy the home is completely irrelevant … we take acts of racial discrimination or racially motivated events very seriously,” he said.

Originally published as Tewantin torture case: Social media outrage spills on to Sunshine Coast street